


Paint it Black

by jacquelee



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Fluff, That's it, and some fun, basically fluff and fun, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 13:57:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13789155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Ava is up to something and Sara is in for a surprise when she finds out what.





	Paint it Black

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [monthlysupergo](https://monthlysupergo.dreamwidth.org) for the character madlibs prompt "1 and 2 with the title Paint it Black" with the characters being Ava and Sara.
> 
> This quite likely will be non-canon-compliant come Monday (no spoilers, just speculation), so I'll put it out now – I actually wrote it nearly three weeks ago so there's already some discrepancies but only some. I'm not used to write for ongoing shows, lol.

Sara was sitting in the parlor, going over some of their last missions, making sure she wasn't missing anything. In the last two weeks, this had become routine, part of the legends' attempt to do better, be the scalpel not the chainsaw. 

Having Ava on board surely helped with that, even though in the beginning, Sara had not been amused about all the paperwork doing things the right way apparently brought with it. But since then she had realized that she actually didn't even mind it that much. It helped clear her thoughts, think about tactics and how they could do things better, not just jump in without any kind of plan. 

And the most surprising was that it didn't even take the fun out of things as she had feared. On the contrary, things going smoother meant there was even more time for extracurricular activities in whatever era they had landed in. Which Ava still couldn't shake the habit to frown upon even though all of them knew that she loved those activities just as much as any of the legends. 

Smiling to herself, Sara focused her attention back on the report in front of her. 

"Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but there is something that I think requires your attention."

"No problem, Gideon, what is it?" 

"It is Agent Sharpe." 

Sara got up, immediately ready for anything. She had left Ava hours ago, in the quarters she had moved into when it became clear that she was becoming a permanent member of the team. After the mission today, Ava had said she needed some rest and Sara thought she would just go over some reports too and then sleep. But now she was worried, as always jumping to the worst case scenario in her head. 

"What about Ava? Is she okay? Where is she?" Gideon seemed to hesitate, which did nothing to calm down Sara's nerves. "Gideon? What is going on?"

She was already going for her staff, ready to fight, when Gideon finally spoke. 

"There is no danger. I apologize for worrying you. Agent Sharpe simply told me to not tell you and while my allegiance is to my Captain I still don't like going against anyone's wishes."

Now Sara's apprehension turned into amusement. Especially since she knew how many times Gideon had actually disregarded everything all of them said, but then again, their AI that had been at the beginning at odds with Ava now seemed to truly like her – maybe even better than some of the original legends – so it was probably different for her. 

"I can understand that. I'll make it easy on you, if Ava is not endangering herself or the team, I would say whatever she is doing, she'll be fine." There was silence following that statement and Sara started worrying a little again. "Gideon? What is she doing? If you can tell me that much."

"I believe so. She is…" Sara noticed the hesitation, quite unusual for the AI. "Redecorating." 

"Redecorating? That doesn't sound that bad. Tell you what, just point me in her direction and I'll go there to check up on her if you're worried." 

"Thank you, Captain." 

Gideon sounded relieved and not for the first time Sara smiled at the thought of how human their AI truly was. Then she set out to find Ava, very curious about what she would find. 

Whatever it was she imagined, what she actually found when she entered the small room in the back of the Waverider Gideon had led her to was not it. 

Usually praising herself for her ability to deal with any kind of surprise, this time the only thing Sara could do was stand in the doorway and stare open mouthed at the scenario in front of her. 

It was chaos. Not the chaos she was used to, having been part of the legends for nearly three years now, but a more unknown and so much more confusing chaos. The room was cluttered with utensils she only vaguely knew the use of, ladders and most of all, paint. A whole lot of black paint, covering every corner, especially the person crouching in the middle of it all. 

Sara needed a moment to even recognize Ava. Her hair was disheveled, multiple big splotches of black paint on her face and all over her outfit, which apparently had been at some point her normal Time Bureau pantsuit without the jacket, but which now barely resembled that, sticky with paint and sweat, the shirt hanging down loose instead of being tucked in tightly. 

Realizing that there was indeed no danger but not having the slightest clue how to deal with this new and very confusing reality, Sara just stood there, silent, not moving for what seemed like an eternity, having been taken completely off guard. 

But then Ava looked at her, with the ghost of a smile in her eyes and tried to move her hair out of her face, leaving even more streaks of black paint on her face. 

That was the moment when Sara couldn't hold it in any more. The situation was just too ridiculous. The laughter bubbled up in her, starting with a slight twitch of her lips but then coming up like a storm and rocking through her entire body. There was nothing she could do about it, she just had to let it out. 

Even looking at Ava and seeing her expression change to one of annoyance and worse, shame and hurt, Sara still couldn't stop herself. This was just too bizarre. With all the things they had been through, battling the Dharks and now Mallus, there were so few things to laugh about and Sara found that seeing Ava in this state, whatever it was she was doing, moved something deep inside her, easing some of the weight that had been on her ever since Dhark had been resurrected. 

Ava didn't seem to feel the same way. Her cheeks were flaming red and her eyes seemed to be wetter than normal, as she stood up and squared her shoulders.

"Captain Lance, I am thrilled you find my current predicament amusing. If you would excuse me." 

She tried to sneak out of the room, but Sara planted herself firmly in the middle of the door, sobered by Ava's expression and the way she spoke, as if barely holding back tears. 

"Hey, come on, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing at you, I'm just… What is all this? What are you doing?" Having stopped her attempt of getting out, clearly not wanting to get into a physical fight right now, Ava still refused to look at Sara, staring at the floor instead. Sara gently touched her shoulder, smiling. "Please? Talk to me." 

Finally, Ava looked up and sighed, frustration but also just a hint of mischief in her eyes that Sara was relieved to see. 

"Fine. I was going to paint the room black." 

"Yes, that much I can see. Why?" 

"Because you asked me if I feel at home on the Waverider and you told me about how you feel bored by always looking at the greens of the temporal zone and that being on a spaceship or timeship you should at least see some stars. And when I was little I always used to sneak into the planetarium and spend hours just looking at the stars on the ceiling and I just wanted to make something like that here. For me. And for you. So that we can look at stars. I wanted to show you that I do see this as my home. That I want to be here. With you."

All of this was said at a speed that put Felicity to shame, Sara barely keeping up with it. But the last few words burned themselves into her brain and made her feel something she hadn't felt in a long time. Realizing what those words meant, what Ava had been doing here, for herself, for her, for them, she started to smile brightly. 

Ava was still looking at the floor, seemingly expecting rejection. Sara gently touched her cheek, brushing a loose strand of hair out of the way and bringing their faces closer together. 

She had no idea what to say, so she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind. 

"I love you." 

At that, Ava looked up and into her eyes, clearly surprised but only needing a second to realize what just happened, smiling back at Sara wider than Sara had ever seen, her eyes shining. 

"I love you." 

They looked into each others eyes for a moment longer before finally coming together for a kiss they had both been longing for for so long. 

After what seemed like an eternity, they both resurfaced and slowly became aware of their surroundings again. Ava seemed to withdraw a little, still feeling insecure about her idea, but Sara took her hand into her own and squeezed it a little, encouragingly. 

"So, a planetarium, hm? I think that's a fantastic idea. Let's do this!" 

This time, Ava grinned, a sight that stunned Sara who immediately made a mental note to paint all the rooms on the Waverider. 

"Let's!"


End file.
